Nuclear Energy Agency Online Bulletin

Covers new material for October 2008:

NEA publications

Celebrating its 50th Anniversary, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency's NEO is the first outlook ever produced on nuclear energy. It responds to the changing dynamics and renewed interest in nuclear energy and arrives at a moment when energy security, climate change and the cost of energy have become priorities in both short-term and long-term energy policies.

Using the most current data and statistics available, the NEO provides projections up to 2050 to consider growth scenarios and potential implications on the future use of nuclear energy. It also offers unique analyses and recommendations on the possible challenges that lie ahead.

Radioactive waste management

The NEA co-sponsored the international conference on "Decommissioning Challenges: An Industrial Reality", held from 28 September to 2 October in Avignon, France. Cleaning and dismantling nuclear facilities that have been shut down is an essential activity to close their life cycles. The international decommissioning conference, which is organised every five years, was hosted by the French Nuclear Energy Society (SFEN) and also sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the American and European Nuclear Societies. The conference theme and presentations reflected the significant practical experience that has been gained in commercial, government and international decommissioning projects. Discussions underscored how feedback from such projects has fostered improvements in project management, technology and stakeholder involvement in decision-making processes.

Radiological protection

The NEA Expert Group on the Public Health Context in Radiological Protection (EGPH) met recently to finalise four case studies that it is preparing on exposure to radon, justification of medical exposures, public health judgement and decision making based on new scientific evidence, and management of individual differences. For each of these topics the Expert Group's study will summarise national views and approaches, which will provide input to the 2nd Science and Values in Radiological Protection workshop. This workshop will take place at Vaux de Cernay, near Paris, from 30 November to 1 December 2009, and will focus on the first three EGPH case studies. They will be addressed from a "what now" perspective, that is, given that these issues present questions that must be addressed in the short term, what will governments do.

The NEA Expert Group on Occupational Exposure met in early October, primarily to discuss plans to finalise its first case study on Radiological Protection criteria for new nuclear build. The group is focusing on radiological protection aspects and indicators that could be used by regulatory authorities, nuclear utilities and vendors that reflect current good practice and that represent the performance and maintenance expectations for the next wave of nuclear power plants to be built. The group will submit the final draft of this study at the May 2009 meeting of the NEA Committee of Radiation Protection and Public Health (CRPPH) for review, comment and hopefully approval for publication. The Expert Group also began addressing the topic of its second case study, the implementation of new International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommendations, by identifying key areas of concern, notably the application of dose constraints and the use of collective dose.

The NEA Expert Group on the Implications of ICRP Recommendations (EGIR) met in early October to perform a highly detailed assessment of the draft ICRP recommendation entitled Application of the Commission's Recommendations to the Protection of Individuals Living in Long-Term Contaminated Territories after a Nuclear Accident or a Radiation Emergency. The general and detailed comments developed by the group were submitted to the ICRP website, and were almost fully taken into account in the final draft of the document, which was approved by the ICRP Main Commission at its meeting in Buenos Aires (held in conjunction with the IRPA-12 Congress) on 25 October. The ICRP once again thanked the NEA for the constructive and very valuable comments that were provided.

The NEA actively participated in the IRPA-12 Congress organised by the International Radiation Protection Association in Buenos Aires. It highlighted the work of the CRPPH in five topical sessions, six poster presentations and two plenary sessions. The work of the NEA was also cited in many other presentations, particularly in the areas of stakeholder involvement and nuclear emergency management.

Nuclear science

The Fifth International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) Technical Review meeting was held at NEA offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France on 20-24 October. A total of 31 participants from Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, the United States and two international organisations attended the meeting. Fourteen new series of reactor physics experiments were reviewed for integration in the March 2009 edition of the IRPhEP Handbook. This edition will contain 38 series of reactor physics experiments performed at 25 reactor facilities. Fifteen countries have been contributing to this project through the release of experimental data and financial support.

The Tenth Information Exchange Meeting on Actinide and Fission Product Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) was held on 6-10 October in Mito, Japan, hosted by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). This meeting brought together 152 participants from 14 countries and three international organisations. The meeting programme covered the role of P&T in advanced nuclear fuel cycles, including their impact on waste management policies, as well as progress in the technology of dedicated, accelerator-driven systems and advanced reactors as transmutation devices. A special session at the beginning of the meeting was devoted to fuel cycle transition scenario studies. The eleventh meeting will be held in the second half of 2010 in the United States. More information is available at www.oecd-nea.org/pt/iempt10.

Data Bank

The following nuclear data libraries have recently been added to the evaluated nuclear data (EVA) database: